Former state Sen. George L. 'Doc' Gunther dies

Brittany Lyte

Updated 12:05 am, Monday, August 27, 2012

Former State Senator George "Doc" Gunther at his home in Stratford in 2006.
Photo: File Photo/Tracy Deer, File Photo

Former State Senator George "Doc" Gunther at his home in Stratford...

State Sen. George "Doc" Gunther speaks in front of a Vought F4U Corsair at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Conn. May 18th, 2005. Built in Stratford, Gunther fought to have the Corsair named the State of Connecticut's official state aircraft.
Photo: Ned Gerard, ST

Longtime state Sen. George L. "Doc" Gunther, who for decades championed efforts to protect Long Island Sound and preserve the state's aviation history, died early Sunday in hospice care after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 92.

Gunther, a Republican from Stratford, holds the record as Connecticut's longest-serving legislator.

The recipient of more than 100 national and state awards and citations, Gunther represented the state's 21st Senate District, which includes all of Shelton, most of Stratford, and parts of Monroe and Seymour, for four decades starting in 1966. He retired from the Legislature in 2006.

A product of the Bridgeport public school system, he gets his "Doc" nickname from his profession -- he was a naturopathic physician.

Gunther supported scores of environmental and conservation efforts during his 20 terms in the state Senate. He battled pipelines, protected wetlands and snipped at the red tape tying down long-stalled projects like the redevelopment of Stratford's Army engine plant. Known for keeping German beer in his office refrigerator, Gunther sponsored an annual "German Day" at the Capital where legislators would don lederhosen and eat wiener schnitzel.

"He was one of the real characters of the General Assembly," said Michael Riley, president of the state Motor Transport Association and a longtime lobbyist. "He was one of a kind and everybody loved him. He would prowl the halls of the Capitol with his inappropriate remarks. He got away with murder. I loved the guy."

He added, "He used to vote against any nominee for a judgeship, just to prevent them from getting a 100 percent vote. He just thought it wasn't right that a person should get a unanimous vote. And he hated sheriffs and the whole county system. He just thought there was no justification to have sheriffs in this day and age. The sheriff hated him."

Always a jokester, Gunther was perhaps best known by some for his Don Rickles-style humor.

"You're a phony bastard," said state Rep Larry Miller, R-Stratford, mimicking Gunther's signature greeting. "That's what he'd say to you when he saw you, and if he didn't say it, then you knew you were in trouble."

For years, Miller and Gunther commuted to Hartford and political events together. They were prone to getting lost. A 45-minute drive from Stratford to the Woodbridge Country Club once took them double that time. Miller said they would occupy themselves during those long car rides by making fun of each other.

"If anybody ever heard us, we would be accused of hate crime," said Miller. "He was a kidder. The things he would say were just outrageous. He had a sense of humor that was really one of the greatest I've ever come across."

"Young whippersnapper" was Gunther's nickname for Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield. Despite the fact that he was born about the same time Gunther was first elected to the Legislature, McKinney said Gunther always treated him with respect and made time to sit down with him and offer his advice.

"Of all of the people that I've served with and known in politics, he was the least political," said McKinney. "It was never about politics for Doc. It was about policy. It was about serving people and doing the right thing. He never let politics interfere with any of that. He was strong. He didn't care if it was a Republican governor or a Republican bill or a Democratic governor or a Democratic bill. If he liked it, he voted for it; if he didn't, he wouldn't."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Gunther gave new meaning to the word relentless.

"Passionate, resourceful and courageous for the causes he championed, Doc Gunther was a fighter who readily put aside partisan differences for a larger public interest," he said. "I valued his friendship and our work together to preserve Long Island Sound and protect consumers and other issues."

"Having sat next to Doc Gunther for seven years in the state Senate, I was able to learn a lot from the man who authored Connecticut's environmental policy act, and admired his steadfast support for local environmental issues," he said. "While you may not always have agreed with Doc's point of view, you had to respect his independent thinking, and his commitment to public service."

In a prepared statement, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy applauded Gunther for his passion and commitment to public service.

"Even if you didn't agree with him, Senator Gunther was an independent thinker respected by his colleagues and constituents for fighting to protect our environment and preserve open space," Malloy said. "His advocacy and service to our state will be remembered and will continue to benefit future generations."

In a 2009 interview with the Connecticut Post, Gunther described his long career and working with the state's governors.

"Ray Baldwin (Connecticut governor, 1939-41) was my neighbor when I first moved here on Judson Place in 1945. You'd look over there, and he'd be out there working in his undershirt in his garden and what-not. The kids from the neighborhood came over and said, `Did you ever meet the governor?' So I said, `You have to be BS-ing me.' They said, `Oh no, that's Ray Baldwin!'

"Dempsey was a hell of a nice guy. If you ever met him once, the next time he sees you, it was, `Hi, George.' Always remembered your name. At the time, (former Democratic Party chairman) John Bailey ran the state, so Dempsey didn't have to worry about all the BS. `How's your daughter, Patty?' What a nice guy.

"Then we had Meskill. In my book, he was the least qualified to be governor. Unbelievable. I was assistant minority leader or something like that at the time and I put a press release out saying that Meskill shouldn't run for re-election. In 1974, President Nixon, in one of the last acts of his presidency, nominated Meskill to serve as a federal appellate judge for the Second Circuit. I testified against him in the hearings. Tommy Meskill, I couldn't tell you all the times he wanted to do something, and we'd tell him, `You can't do that.' But he went ahead and did them. He bought a building in Hartford for $1 million and turned around and sold it to the state for a community college for $3 million.

"Ella Grasso. She was a sweetie. She talked my language. She'd say, `(Expletive) you!' She was a tough SOB. I had a lot of respect for her.

"Then you had Billy O'Neill. He was a bartender. But we got along good. I used to get more legislation through when the Democrats were governors than the Republicans."